CLEANED UP

Clean-up notes for this chapter: Showing Loor's mental room a little earlier, so I don't have to build it all at once. Also changed up the escorting the kid mission a little bit; that mission would have been so much fucking easier if you could have just picked the kid up and ran. BTW You might notice that fuck is kinda my word tonight. I just noticed; I think I've used it like eight times in this chapter. I love cursing...

Disclaimer: I do not own Jak and Daxter.

Vacation or War
Chapter Twenty Five- A Dangerous Game

Lauren had a dream. She imagined she was in a room that was crafted into anything she imagined; if she could see it in her mind's eye, there is was under her feet. It shifted here and there, the whole thing like a blanket batted in the wind until the floor settled into a thick carpet of green, pillows of similar shades getting tossed about as walls swept up around, making her dizzy enough to fall back onto the floor. It didn't hurt; she landed on the pillows and found them to be downy-soft. As the walls rose up, they vanished into infinity. The room lacked a ceiling, simply getting lost in black.

She stared up at this empty space before noting that there was something in this room that wasn't a variation of forest green; the walls. They were a deep purple, and a loft of dark wood was morphing out, ringing the room, overflowing with more pillows and blankets. This struck her; it wasn't something of her own design. Why? This was her place, her dream. Why was there something she didn't create, and couldn't control?

So selfish...

Oh. Of course, she wasn't alone in her mind, and thus couldn't be alone in her dreams. Still, Lyra's presence was something she was only dully aware of, and didn't bother with as she felt herself turn to a state of total comfort. Warmth radiated, and she felt as if the black of the ceiling was descending on her and her room. It wasn't long till she just closed her eyes as it became too dim to see.

Why am I so happy? What's got me so... giddy?

The question passed without going to memory, and thus without effect on her flight of fancy. Her eyes remained useless, but the warmth took a more solid presence. The feeling of being held, the sensation of being kept safe in another's arms; it was something she would usually reject but currently found most comforting. She wanted to hold onto it; she didn't want to be alone.

I don't want to be alone anymore. I'm sick of it.

She wanted to keep this feeling, but the harder she tried to imprint the exact sensation on her memory, the more it slipped away.

I don't want to be alone.

You don't have to be. Just chase what you want.

What if it's wrong?

That growling chuckle... Lyra's melodic and animal-like giggle as the last of the warmth slid away from her. It disturbed her.

Who cares?

Lauren awoke with little memory of her subconscious activity, and once she filed what she did remember as irrelevant she sat up out of bed with a shrug of dismissal. Torn was awake, and movement on the top bunk told her Jak was moving too. Without pondering any longer she began to put on her gear, the final piece being her scarf, standing and stretching her arms up over her head.

"The Shadow is outside, waiting for you three." Torn said, not looking up from whatever he was studying. "The Kid is with him."

"Didn't Kor take him yesterday?" Loor asked as Jak came down from his bunk, going across to get Daxter up.

"We move the Kid around a lot to keep him safe. It's our turn, but something's come up; we don't got time to watch him. The Shadow will explain when you talk to him. He's just outside." Torn finally looked up. "Get moving; the Baron has stepped up all of his patrols since you idiots 'tripped a few alarms' up there."

"She didn't do anything." Jak defended again, though it was little more than a grumpy mumble, a sleepy Daxter sitting on his shoulder and clinging to his hair. All suited up and ready to go, they proceeded to the stairs. Following Jak out, Lauren noticed he now had the jet-board. Guy must have been busy last night.

It was still early, the sun still rising to full strength and taking the cool night air with it. It was going to be another warm and clear day in Haven. Just to the left of the door, the Shadow was standing with the Kid chasing a dog-like creature in a circle around him. Loor smiled, since the crocodog was even cuter for real than he had been animated.

This young version of Samos was too happy to see them. "I want you three to escort the Kid over to Kor at the power station. He promised to look out for the boy, and I'm just too busy to baby-sit right now." He stepped to one side as the kid almost ran into him, irritated with the hyperactive youth. The dog was next, prompting him to add on; "Oh, and take the Kid's crocodog with you!"

The crocodog seemed to know that he was being talked about, stopping and turning to growl at Samos.

"Oh... heh.." He chuckled nervously. "Isn't he sweet?"

"So what's this kid's story?" Jak asked.

"I found him just wandering the streets, but that amulet around his neck means he just may be the lost heir to the city."

The Kid stopped running, looking up as both Jak and Loor took a moment to look at him. The amulet around his neck was the seal of Mar. Loor wondered; did that technically make Jak a prince? Prince of Haven city wasn't exactly a title she'd go for, but it was interesting to think about.

"Take the Kid and the mutt to the power station." Samos ordered as the child ran to Jak, making an attempt to hold his hand that caused Jak to pull back in surprise. "Watch out for guard patrols and defend the Kid at all costs. Oh... and if you happen to lose the crocodog..."

Said animal growled at Samos again before turning to trot ahead of the group. The kid forgot his failed attempt at holding Jak's hand to chase after the animal, taking off before anyone could stop him.

"Hey!" Jak turned. "Kid, wait up!"

Loor was made even more upset by the kid suddenly running ahead; she knew what was about to happen. The general alert was about to be raised as the Baron ordered every child in the city to be arrested. On what grounds? She had no idea. But it didn't matter, it came naturally to run after the child and scoop him up so he couldn't run away anymore, holding him against her right hip and drawing her weapon with her left hand.

At first the Kid struggled, wanting to chase the dog, and Lauren figured the only way to appease the child without letting him go would be to chase the dog for him.

She ran right into a fire fight. Neither the dog nor the child seemed to care, as the dog kept running, occasionally turning back and barking for the kid, and the kid kept fussing as Loor stalled, looking around as the boys in red were coming from pretty much all directions. She could knock them back at close range with her weapon, but she hardly could keep her head together enough to kill dumb animals like metal heads. The idea of ending an intelligent life, a human life, made her stomach churn.

The two closest to her suddenly suffered bullets to the brain. She looked back to find Jak was covering her, and had none of her squeamishness. "Move!" He ordered her. "Just keep moving, I'll watch your ass."

"Follow that dog!" Daxter had finally woken up, and could see the Kid was going to wiggle free of Loor's arms if she didn't give chase to the stupid animal.

Loor rounded, doing as she was told. She ducked low, tucking the kid against her body the best she could, and started pumping her legs to chase the dog. It was similar to cradling a football... a really big football that squirmed around to see his pet. Of course several KG saw her trying to charge through, and tried to get in the way. That's when her weapon got useful. She didn't aim to bat them out of the way.

Instead she squeezed the middle, blue sparks snapping as she used the weapon as a cattle prod, shoving aside guards that didn't fall over once stunned, leaping over those who did. She didn't know how many bullets cut close to her or the Kid, she just kept an eye on the crocodog and wherever it was running.

Turned out the dog seemed to understand the danger, as it leapt for a parked zoomer. It was one of the large, three-person ones. Loor didn't argue with the scaly canine, saddling up and looking back to see if Jak was keeping up, turning the Kid to face her and holding him to her chest.

Jak was a few yards behind, but it might as well have been a mile. He was shooting guards literally left and right, protecting their getaway.

"Get movin'!" Daxter yelled from the crush of red armor. "We'll catch up!"

She spared a nod, putting her weapon away, turning over the zoomer's engine and bringing the nose around to aim for the industrial section. She hoped Jak caught up fast, because she didn't have a pass to enter south town alone.

She wondered how he got surrounded like that; had he been so single minded in protecting her that he hadn't watched his own back? Jak was incredibly protective of his friend's well-being, but was it enough to put himself in that kind of danger?

She thought about the mission into the fortress, after Torn betrayed the underground by ratting them all out to the Baron to protect Ashelin. Jak had gone on a near suicide mission to rescue those who had been taken.

Just being his friend was dangerous. What if he got hurt?

Her thoughts were broken into as a single-person zoomer ripped by her, having more agility in the air than her clunky three-person one. She had been trying to be careful, made aware of just how soft the child was just by carrying him. Still, Jak had gotten to her at just the right time; she'd been upon the city checkpoint. Still, he paused in the air.

"Scoot over!" He commanded. "I'll drive."

Shifting seats mid-air was an interesting maneuver, but she did it without protest, one hand spared to hang onto her seat as the other still clutched the Kid, who was fussing again because he couldn't see the crocodog in the seat on the other side of the driver. Jak punched it, of course, being a much more effective driver of the larger class vehicle than Loor was. He soon dropped the vehicle into the lower zone, using the larger engine to push faster than a one-person zoomer and moving into turns earlier to make them properly.

Nearing the power station, he began to put the breaks on. As soon as they slowed, the crocodog leapt out again, running ahead.

"Ack!" Daxter cried. "Not that crocodog again!"

Loor was next to leap out, making her run not to follow the crocodog but to go straight up the ramp to the power station, expecting the dog would chase the Kid with the same devotion that the Kid wanted to chase the dog with. She drew out her weapon again, but also looked back to make sure Jak was on the same page as her. The power station had security doors; the uninvited would never get in.

This time he was right with her, nodding for her to move. As expected the dog ran even faster when the Kid was ahead of him, digging in the keep up and barking. The door was open by the time they arrived at the top, the group diving through and standing just inside as it quickly snapped shut. An alarm blared inside the power station, rude but bearable.

In the middle of the room, looking quite at home with all the commotion, was Kor. Loor put the Kid down, who was all too happy to be removed from her hip, allowing him to totter over to Kor as Daxter hopped down from Jak's shoulder. "Samos told us to bring the kid to you." Daxter said, sounding like he was upset with the arrangement. Of course, it had been quite the wake-up call for the ottsel.

"Thank you." Kor's voice was soft and wheezy, like and old man who had seen too much. Loor would have to give it to him; he was a good actor, but she knew the truth, and could see the secret smile on his face as he laid a hand on the Kid's head, looking down. That smile was not of a kindly caretaker; it was that of a predator with his prey under his paws. "I'll be sure to keep him close."

The dog had trotted after the kid, growling at Kor and keeping a foot's distance.

"How sweet..." He practically groaned.

Jak had stepped up now, giving the dog a quick stroke on the head to try and calm him down. It worked, making the animal whine and draw into a happy smile, slarm dripping down his green scaly jowls. Loor smiled at the crocodog while putting away her weapon once more, as the animal reminded her of her family dog at home; Smokey. He was a pure bred Chow-Chow, a mid-sized fuzzy dog with a terrible attitude unless their master said otherwise, Chow-Chows being a breed that tended to bond with one person. In Smokey's case, that had been her mother. Smokey would growl at anyone until mom walked up, and then he was happy as could be.

"Interesting..." Kor hunched over to examine the dog's happy face. "That insufferable mutt never liked anyone but the boy before..."

Jak chuckled. "I guess I'm just good with animals."

Kor dismissed the subject, shaking his head and his massive beard rippling with the action, turning his head up to the many monitors arranged along the upper reaches of the power station. "I hope we have enough eco to keep the metal heads at bay... during my travels into the deep wasteland I saw some of the bigger ones." He turned back to the others, waving the hand that wasn't occupied with his walking stick. "Awesome creatures."

Daxter nodded a little. "We saw a big one coming out of a rift once. He was uuuuugly!"

"Hmmmph..." Kor grunted, a disappointed frown creasing his face. "I have some valuable information for you. The Baron is conducting an excavation at the dig. He is still looking for that ridiculous tomb."

The old man didn't seem to notice as the crocodog decided to relieve himself on the end of his walking stick.

"Frankly, I don't believe it exists, but you might as well go out there and disrupt his operation, just in case."

He then lifted the staff slightly, shaking it dry as the dog trotted over to be by the Kid, who had wandered to look at all the lights of the power station. Kor slammed the stick back down while looking to the trouble twins. "Knock down all the scaffolding at the site; that should set him back. Here is an air train pass to get you out there."

Kor gestured to the kid, who looked over and and pulled a square pass out of his overalls, seeming overjoyed to have it, and even happier to hand it over to Jak. Taking it, Jak looked to Loor.

"You coming on this one?" He asked as Daxter got back up on his shoulder.

"Naw." She answered without hesitation. Knocking down the drill at the dig was something that worked largely with the jet-board; she'd pass on a mission where she'd be next to useless. That and she needed some time to get her head together; she hadn't realized the implications of how just being friendly with Jak could cause him to inadvertently put himself in danger. She had to figure out what to do. "I'll leave you boys to do that yourself... I got some stuff to take care of."

"Trying to run away from us again, huh toots?" Daxter was fully awake now, and once again full of snappy comments. "You gonna leave the second you find out how to get back home?"

"Maybe." She shrugged. "I might stick around long enough to see Errol's head on a pike..."

"And the victory party!" The ottsel insisted. "You gotta have a round with the winning team if you're gonna hang that long!"

"I... um..." She felt herself coloring up. She wanted to say she was horrendously underage for drinking, but had no idea what the drinking age was in Haven, or if there even was one. "We'll see." She finally said. "You two get movin'. Come and find me when you need me, alright?"

Jak smiled at her as Dax gave a fake salute, the two taking their leave.

"You seem a tad soft to be so muddled in this conflict." Kor wheezed behind her. She turned away from the door to look at him again, eyes catching on the large medallion that hung on his forehead, likely hiding the fact that he was a metal head in disguise. "And young... you look mature, and speak like a grown woman, but you still seem... innocent."

"I'm not from around here." She used the fact as a cover. "Experiment gone sour landed me in Haven... I'm not usually the type to be out fighting wars."

"And yet you're part of the underground, where we only take those who have the ability and drive to join the fight." Kor seemed to be challenging her.

"I shot Errol... that was enough for my induction."

"Perhaps... but someone so sore for experience shouldn't be turning down missions with such an experienced agent. It's a wasted opportunity."

"I got my own shit to do." She growled, defaulting to aggression. "So, if you'll excuse me."

"Oh, by all means..." Kor turned to see the kid was pressing buttons on one of the many consoles, though the old man made no move to stop him. "Lauren."

She had turned to the door, the automated portal sliding open. Still, she couldn't help but jolt to a short stop. The way he said her name, it struck her like a brick to the brain. She dared to look back at him, staring.

He was looking back, dark eyes glinting.

He knew. She had no idea how, but the fucker knew.

She beat feet to get the fuck out of there. She didn't really care where she was going, she just wanted away from there. The idea of being anywhere near Kor was near suffocating. She eventually found herself in the port section, standing on the edge of the road by the water and staring out, wanting to break out running again but restraining herself. She had to calm her brain down; Kor wasn't going to eat her. At least, not today.

Think girl, think! She snapped at herself. Stop worrying about yourself and think about the real problem here!

Goodness, it doesn't take much to send you into a frenzy, does it?

Lyra's silky voice broke her out of her fight-or-flight reaction, finally drawing in a deep breath and letting it out as a sigh, sitting at the port's edge and putting her legs over the side. Have you looked through all my memories? Do you know what he is?

Just another metal head. I can smell it... though the reek is quite strong on him. His body is producing eco, like some metal heads do for attacks. Surprised the whole race hasn't gone cannibal with their need for it.

You can... smell him?

Most everyone, actually. But you seem disturbed enough at my emotions, I figured the fact that your senses are enhanced while I'm paying attention to them would disturb you further... so I blocked your awareness of it.

That seems oddly nice of you...

Hey, we had a deal, didn't we? You let me watch, I don't fuck with you... often.

Right... The Loor had put her head in her hands, swinging her feet slightly over the edge. She tried to ignore Lyra's presence while turning her mind to the real worry at hand; the danger she'd put Jak in by simply existing. The fact that she was a fish out of water was quite prevalent, and unless there was some magic potion for her to drink she wasn't going to suddenly become hero material. She couldn't suddenly abstain from all missions with him; that was sure to raise some kind of alarm that something was wrong that even Daxter wouldn't be able to ignore.

That and Torn would never let her out on her own.

Pack more heat. Lyra suggested. If you can't get good fast, get something powerful that doesn't require a lot of aim.

More guns? She mentally whined. I suck bad enough with the one I have now...

With a little practice you're not terrible, or so the boy tells you.

Alright, fine, but where am I going to get said heat?

The woman who first took you in. What was the name...? Loor could feel Lyra picking through her memories again, making her wish she could scratch inside her skull. Ah, Teek. She had all the heat you could ask for. Maybe even armor.

Loor couldn't argue; as much as she disliked the idea of getting something heavier than the pistol she already had it was the best idea available at the moment. Teek's home was back in the slums, near the fortress door. Without a moment more to ponder it, the girl got up and started walking.

She hoped this would help; she needed something to put her mind at ease.

The Author's Corner

Oh GOD I am mean. Really, I am. At least I am to vets.

They all know what's coming...

Keh. Heh. Heh...

ORIGHT! So Loor has a job now, so that whole updating on Fridays thing is out the fucking window. I update when I finish chapters, not a moment before or after. MEOW.

Hope you're all enjoying it.

-Loor